It is 7,500 miles from here to Ethiopia. In this land once ruled by kings I search for two special children with eyes like mine. Join me as I take this long walk down the path of international adoption. There are sure to be twist and turns, some hills and some valleys, some laughter and some tears before I reach the destination.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Pray With Us

We Ask For Your Prayers.A writer described prayer of intercessors as "Love on its knees in prayer, for others. Pleading on behalf of the needs of someone else."

When you pray please pray for:

The CHILDREN. While adoption is an exciting time for me it can be a scary time for them. My children are so young (3 - 6) they may not truly understand what is happening to them or why. It is natural for the children to feel that they are being removed from everything that they know and being delivered into the hands of a stranger. Pray that God gives them peace, that He calms their fears during this time and that He comforts them. Pray that even as they transition from their natural families and travel from their home villages and into orphan care that they experience JOY that every child should have. Pray for their health and the hands of those adults that guard, nurture, feed, and care for them through this time. Pray that they have an easy transition and that they instantly feel the love and care of all those who wait to embrace them.

The ETHIOPIAN FAMILY. I am so grateful to the birth families that hold these children in their care until they believe that they have done all that they can do. No matter the circumstances, it is never easy to let go of your children or to entrust their care to strangers from a strange land. Pray for the strength and courage of my children's relatives. Pray that God gives them peace. But, these families and the families of the children need your pray that the land that they live on bare fruit, that the get access to water and resources that they need to sustain their lives. Pray for their VICTORY over their circumstances.

The MISSION WORKERS. Pray that God touch the heart, mind, and spirit of everyone that participates in this mission. For the nannies and drivers at the orphanages to the facilitators in the field. Pray for the strength of those on both continents that their minds might be focused on the needs of the children.

ETHIOPIA. Pray that God will heal their land, that he open doors that seem closed, and that he shine light where life seems darkest.

FAITH. This is truly a walk of faith. I'm grateful that the blessings have been many and that the setbacks have been few. Still there is more to come before the children make it home. At every turn pray that God increase my faith and the faith of all of those involved throughout this process.

FAVOR. Pray that God grant us favor through this process. I ask for your prayers of favor with the agencies, the social workers, the coordinators, the facilitators, the government bodies, and any person that I may encounter along the way.

I've just seen your blog for the first time tonight ... as I looked back over your timeline I realized ours has been almost identical, minus a few months here or there. We started in early fall of 2007, switched agencies late last summer after pursuing a sibling set of waiting children that fell through ...and are now waiting on 2 siblings through IAN.

Just yesterday my husband and I received some news about our paperwork and wait that was hard. We had an 8 hour car trip across a few states that we spent worshipping, praying and lifting our eyes (sounds like your day). My husband reminded me ... no part of this journey is easy, it is a call for us to go deeper in prayer.

Just want you to know that we are praying for you as you wait more -- praying that your heart would be encouraged and that God would meet you in even deeper ways. Praying that He would continue to renew/restore your hope in His promises.

He is SUCH a good God and wants to rescue the orphan and fulfill His promises to us ... the delays are only serving to deepen our intimacy and partnership in prayer with Him!